Useful idiots

From
Taras Wolansky

Lawrence Krauss calls for physicists to oppose US policy on nuclear weapons (17 February, p 18). Let me suggest that, where matters of government policy are concerned, physicists are no more qualified than laymen – worse than laymen, in fact. The magician and sceptical inquirer James Randi has pointed out that fake psychics can more easily fool physicists and other practitioners of the hard sciences than other people, because the scientists are used to dealing with material that, however difficult, does not intentionally deceive them.

This is equally applicable to foreign policy. Reflect upon the brilliant western physicists who handed …